Milena Heinsch is bringing together social work and gastroenterology

Social Work researcher Dr Milena Heinsch is working to improve the quality of life for children with functional gastrointestinal disorders through cross-disciplinary research with the John Hunter Children’s Hospital.

Milena’s research seeks to address the social and emotional consequences of functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) for children and families. Milena explains that, while FGIDs are amongst the most frequently occurring pain syndromes in childhood, there remain significant barriers to the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions, which can lead to long-term pain and psychological distress for children.

Milena’s latest research, conducted with Dr Scott Nightingale at the John Hunter Children’s Hospital, sought to explore the knowledge, practice and attitudes of paediatricians to FGIDs in children.

“We surveyed paediatricians in Australia who commonly diagnose children with FGID to explore their understanding of these conditions and existing strategies for diagnosis and treatment,” Milena explained.

“Our preliminary investigations found that respondents often felt unsure how to diagnose and treat some FGIDs. Many were not familiar with the accepted diagnostic criteria for these conditions, and therefore conducted lengthy and sometimes unnecessary testing to exclude alternative causes”.

“Despite recognising a link between psychological factors and FGIDs, many respondents chose not to recommend psychological therapies to children. One possible reason is that few services offer these therapies, making it difficult for children to access them.”

Pointing to the longer-term emotional and physical consequences of a lack of treatment, Milena, together with Dr Nightingale, is now seeking to create and test an internet-based therapeutic intervention, which children with FGID and their families can use in their homes to complement and/or replace ongoing therapies.

This is the first Australian study to examine the impact of an internet-based therapeutic intervention on quality of life, pain and functional outcomes for young people with FGID.

Milena is eager to see this project come to fruition and has applied for further funding in 2016 from the Hunter Medical Research Institute, with outcomes to be released in early November.

During her PhD candidature, Milena was employed as the Paediatric Gastroenterology Social Worker at the JHCH. Guided by a passion for forging stronger links between research and practice, she undertook a PhD in 2010: A three-year study to explore researchers’ perceptions of moving research into practice.

“I wanted to know whether, and how, collaboration between researchers and practitioners facilitates the uptake of research in practice. Ultimately, I discovered that research use is a socially engaged and relational process, and identified four forms of collaboration which have the potential to enhance this process," Milena explained.

“For me, collaborating with practice is of key importance for the development of relevant, socially accountable research. The value of research lies in its potential to influence and inform practice and policy at every level.”

After receiving her doctorate in 2013, Milena sought to maintain her relationships with health and medical professionals, and is currently collaborating on a number of research projects with colleagues at the John Hunter Children’s Hospital, Sydney Children’s Hospital, Children’s Hospital Westmead and the Centre for Emotional Health, Macquarie University.

“In my experience, exciting outcomes can be achieved when medical and social professionals take an integrated and collaborative approach to research and service provision for children and their families. I am excited by the possibilities of building strong research and practice connections between medicine and social work.”

Career Summary

Biography

I am a lecturer in Social Work in the School of Humanities and Social Science. I completed my PhD in knowledge utilisation at the University of Newcastle in 2013, while simultaneously employed as the Paediatric Gastroenterology Social Worker at the John Hunter Children's Hospital. I then held positions in research, teaching and practice, before joining the Social Work Teaching and Research team at Newcastle on a permanent basis in 2015.

The themes of my research include children's health and gastrointestinal disorders, research utilisation and evidence-based practice, and environmental social work. I have a passion for exploring and strengthening the links between research and practice, to ensure the societal benefits of research are realised through research impact.

I have a keen interest in traversing the boundaries of the social work discipline through collaborative cross-disciplinary research. I am currently conducting a joint research project with the John Hunter Children's Hospital, which aims to develop and evaluate whether a reproducible, internet-based therapeutic intervention, in combination with standard medical theory, improves quality of life, pain and functional outcomes for young people with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs). This is the first Australia study to examine the impact of an internet-based intervention on quality of life of young people with FGID.

Research Expertise

I am a Social Work researcher whose main areas of interest include children's health and gastrointestinal disorders, research utilisation and evidence-based practice, and environmental social work. I welcome inquiries from postgraduate students seeking supervision on any of these topics.

UoN Early Career Research Network

In 2015, I initiated an Early Career Researcher Network at the University of Newcastle. This Network aims to foster peer mentoring and interdisciplinary collaboration amongst Early Career Researchers at Newcastle in an informal and supporting environment. Face-to-face meetings of the Network are held once per month at Mamaduke's Cafe. The Network also has a closed Facebook group for connecting and sharing information. If you would like to be added to the mailing list please email me at: Milena.Heinsch@newcastle.edu.au

Qualifications

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Newcastle

Bachelor of Social Work, University of Newcastle

Keywords

Childhood Functional Abdominal Pain

Children and families

Evidence-based practice

Gastroenterology

Health social work

Paediatric chronic illness

Research translation

Research use

Languages

English (Mother)

German (Fluent)

Fields of Research

Code

Description

Percentage

160799

Social Work not elsewhere classified

100

Professional Experience

UON Appointment

Title

Organisation / Department

Lecturer

University of NewcastleSchool of Humanities and Social ScienceAustralia

Heinsch M, Gray M, Sharland E, 'Re-conceptualising the link between research and practice in social work: A literature review on knowledge utilisation', INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, 25 98-104 (2016) [C1]

Research Collaborations

The map is a representation of a researchers co-authorship with collaborators across the globe. The map displays the number of publications against a country, where there is at least one co-author based in that country. Data is sourced from the University of Newcastle research publication management system (NURO) and may not fully represent the authors complete body of work.